Key-pad operating mechanism of saxophone

ABSTRACT

A key-pad operating mechanism of the saxophone for forcibly separating a normally closed key-pad from the tone hole seat via an arm using the leverage principle by pressing the operating lever for the normally closed key-pad even if the normally closed key-pad is stuck to the tone hole seat. The mechanism can easily open the normally closed key-pad without affecting any traditional maneuverability of the instrument and prevents key-pads from becoming inoperable during a play.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the key-pad operating mechanism ofsaxophone preventing inoperative conditions due to stickiness of thekey-pad.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a saxophone comprises a body (main tube) 101 of a metal tubegenerally curved in a J-shape, as shown in FIG. 4.

The body 101 is connected on one end of it to a bell (opening) 102expanding in a bell-shape, and to a crook (blow tube) 103 on the otherend thereof. A mouthpiece 104 is detachably attached to the crook 103. Areed (not shown) is attached to the mouthpiece 104. When the playerblows air into the mouthpiece 104, the reed vibrates. This vibration istransmitted through the body 101 and exits from tone holes O₁₀₀ (seeFIGS. 5, 6 and 7) and the bell 102.

The body 101 is normally provided with 18-25 tone holes O₁₀₀ The playeradjusts the pitch (of sound) by opening and closing appropriate key-padsK₁₀₀ provided on the tone holes O₁₀₀. The pitch is basically determinedby the distances from the mouthpiece 104 to the tone holes O₁₀₀. Inother words, the further the opened tone holes O₁₀₀ are from themouthpiece 104, the pitch is lower, and the nearer, the higher. Of thesetone holes O₁₀₀, two tone holes O₁₀₁ and O₁₀₂ are the octave holes forgenerating harmonics. Other tone holes O₁₀₀ are for generatingsemitones; generating a semitone change when a tone hole is opened orclosed.

Various mechanisms have been devised historically to operate thesekey-pads K₁₀₀ including mechanisms for opening and closing as well aslevers and such for connecting key-pads themselves, so that they can beoperated with ten fingers of a player. These mechanisms are wellestablished today. Therefore, it is said that any changes to the key-padoperating mechanism of the saxophone are not desirable from thestandpoint of the easiness of playing, particularly the uniformity offingering during a play. However, there shouldn't be any problem inimproving the key-pad operating mechanism of the saxophone as long asthe change does not cause any problems in playing and or changes infingering.

The key-pads K₁₀₀ are directly operated to open or close as shown inFIG. 5 via operating levers L₁₀₀ which are generally operated byfingers. The operations of these operating levers L₁₀₀ are transmittedthrough actuating levers M₁₀₀. A key-pad K₁₀₀, as shown in FIG. 5, has arelatively soft pad 111 that comprises a paperboard 107, a felt disc108, a leather pouch 109 that covers them, and a reflection plate 110,and is contained in a skirt section 106a of a cap body 106, to which anoperating lever L₁₀₀ is attached. The pad 111 is glued with adhesive 112to the cap body 106. In order to close a tone hole O₁₀₀, the soft pad111 seats nicely on a seat Oa₁₀₀ formed upward on the edge of the tonehole O₁₀₀.

The key-pads K₁₀₀ of the saxophone are basically divided into normallyopen and normally closed key-pads. The normally open key-pad Kno₁₀₀ iskept away normally from the corresponding tone hole O₁₀₀ to maintain anopened condition by means of the spring force of a spring 114 that actson the corresponding lever L₁₀₀, while the normally closed key-padKnc₁₀₀ is kept normally contacting the corresponding tone hole O₁₀₀ tomaintain a normally closed condition.

The normally closed key-pad Knc₁₀₀, as shown in FIG. 6, is attached witha lever L₁₀₀, which is designed to rotate around a fulcrum 115 on asupport pillar P₁₀₀ erected on the body 101. Moreover, a base end 114aof the spring 114 is affixed to the vicinity of the pad 111, while theother end 114b is extended beyond the support pillar P₁₀₀ to the side ofa pressing part 116 of the operating lever L₁₀₀ to contact the body 101.Consequently, when the normally closed key-pad Knc₁₀₀ is pressed in thedirection of an arrow Da as shown in the diagram against the springforce of the spring 114, the pad 111 rotates in the direction of anarrow Db to open the tone hole O₁₀₀. Also, the normally closed key-padKnc₁₀₀ normally maintains its closed position with the pad 111 seated onthe tone hole O₁₀₀ due to the spring force 114.

The normally open key-pad Kno₁₀₀ is equipped with two support pillarsP₁₀₀ and P₁₀₀ erected on the body 101 as shown in FIG. 7. The normallyopen key-pad Kno₁₀₀ is further equipped with two operating levers La₁₀₀and Lb₁₀₀ so that they can rotate around fulcrums 115a and 115b on thesupporting pillars P₁₀₀ and P₁₀₀. Abase end 117a of a spring 117 isaffixed to the rear end of a front operating lever La₁₀₀. The other end117b of the spring 117 is extended beyond the pillar P₁₀₀ to contact thebody 101. When this normally open key-pad Kno₁₀₀ is operated by pressinga pressing part 116 of an operating lever Lb₁₀₀ resisting the springforce of the spring 117 in the direction of the arrow Da shown in thedrawing, the pad 111 rotates in the direction of the arrow Dc to closethe tone hole O₁₀₀. The normally open key-pad Kno₁₀₀ normally keeps thepad 111 in an open position relative to the tone hole O₁₀₀ due to thespring force of a spring 117.

Now, the pad 111 of the key-pad K₁₀₀ comprises, as mentioned before, thebaseboard 107, felt 108 and leather pouch 109 which are all humidityabsorbing materials, so that they can easily absorb moisture from theenvironment and cause stickiness. Moreover, when this wetness attractsdirt, it tends to cause the pad Ill to stick to the seat Oa₁₀₀ of thetone hole O₁₀₀ and makes it difficult to be released. This gives theplayer an impression that it is an instrument difficult to play, andaffects the performance as well.

In playing a saxophone, sometimes the music is of a slow tempo, butsometimes it is of a quick tempo. When playing quick tempo music, thepressing of the operating levers L₁₀₀ that activate key-pads K₁₀₀ isdone with a light touch. As a result, if the pads 111 are sticking tothe seats Oa₁₀₀, the pads 111 fail to operate properly or becomeinoperative and cause improper sounds resulting in a bad performanceeven though the player precisely plays the saxophone.

Particularly, even a single occurrence of inactivity of a key-pad K₁₀₀,if it occurs during a professional's playing, can adversely affect theperformance that follows and the integrity of the entire music.

This tendency of causing inoperative conditions is such that theconditions can occur either with the normally open or normally closedkey-pads. However, the tendency is more conspicuous with normally closedkey-pads Knc₁₀₀. Since a normally open key-pad Kno₁₀₀ has more air flowthrough the area in question, it tends to cause less sticking of its pad111. In other words, a normally closed key-pad Knc₁₀₀ is normally incontact with the seat Oa₁₀₀ of the tone hole O₁₀₀, so that there is verylittle air flow through it except when it is opened in playing or inmaintenance. Therefore, the pad 111 tends to absorb moisture andattracts dirt, thus causing it to be sticky and making the pad 111difficult to be removed from the seat Oa₁₀₀ of the tone hole O₁₀₀.

More specifically, a saxophone has key-pads K₁₀₀ for sounds such as A,B, B.sup.♭, C, C.sup.♯, D, E, F, F.sup.♯, G, G.sup.♯, low C.sup.♯, lowB, and low Bb, of which the normally closed key-pads Knc₁₀₀ are lowC.sup.♯ and G.sup.♯ key-pads. Of these, the G.sup.♯ key-pad, the mosttypical normally closed key-pad Knc₁₀₀, tends to become inoperative mostfrequently. This G.sup.♯ key-pad is located in the middle of thevertical array of key-pads on a saxophone, and is operated most often,so that professional players are most concerned about its performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a key-pad operatingmechanism of saxophone that prevents the key-pads from causinginoperative conditions during a play without causing any changes totheir traditional operating characteristics.

One aspect of the present invention concerns a key-pad operatingmechanism with a plurality of tone holes, normally closed or normallyopen key-pads provided on each of the tone holes, and operating leversthat allow a player to selectively open or close desired tone holes bypressing the key-pads, the mechanism comprising: an actuating lever thatmoves up and down by operating the operating lever for the normallyclosed key-pad; an actuating lever that is provided adjacent to thenormally closed key-pad and moves up and down by operating the operatinglever for the normally open key-pads; and an arm having an abuttingpoint that abuts the actuating lever of the normally open key-pads; thearm opening the normally closed key-pad that is closing the tone holeusing the abutting point as a fulcrum when the operating lever for thenormally closed key-pad is pressed.

In a case where stickiness occurs with a normally closed key-pad, sothat it is stuck to the seat of the tone hole, or its opening or closingrequires extra effort, pressing the operating lever for the normallyclosed key-pad causes the normally closed key-pad to separate from theseat of the tone hole forcibly through an arm. The mechanism allows usto easily pry open the normally closed key-pad due to the leverageprinciple. As a result, it prevents the normally closed key-pads fromcausing any inoperative conditions during a play. Further, it preventsthe key-pads from causing any disruptive sounds or disturbances during aplay, and guarantees accurate sounds and smooth performances.

The objects, features, and characteristics of this invention other thanthose set forth above will become apparent from the description givenherein below with reference to preferred embodiments illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the essential parts of a saxophonerelated to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows the relation between the arm and the actuating lever,wherein FIG. 2A is a schematic cross sectional view taken on line 1A--1Aof FIG. 1, showing the relation between the actuating levers M1 and M2,while FIG. 2B is a schematic cross sectional view taken on the line1B--1B of FIG. 1, showing the coordinating relation between the arm 24and the actuating levers M1, M4;

FIGS. 3A through 3E are explanatory drawings indicating the actuatingconditions related to the G.sup.♯ and F.sup.♯ key-pads of the presentembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a front view of a conventional saxophone;

FIG. 5 is a cross section of the key-pad section of the conventionalsaxophone;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory schematic drawing of the normally closedkey-pad of the conventional saxophone;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory schematic drawing of the normally open key-padof the conventional saxophone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The embodiments of this invention will be described below with referenceto the accompanying drawings.

The saxophone related to the embodiment of the present invention has akey-pad operating mechanism as shown in FIG. 1. In this key-padoperating mechanism, the G.sup.♯ key-pad, which is a normally closedkey-pad Knc, and the F.sup.♯ key-pad, which is a normally open key-padKno, are connected so that the G.sup.♯ key-pad can be forcibly openedwhen needed.

In this key-pad operating mechanism, multiple support pillars P1 throughP14 are erected on the outer surface of the body and rotating shafts R1through R6 are provided between these supporting pillars P1 through P14.The rotating shaft R1 shown on the top left corner of the drawing isprovided with an operating lever L1 for the G.sup.♯ key-pad and anactuating lever M1 to be rotated via the rotating shaft R1 when theoperating lever L1 is pressed. This actuating lever M1 is presseddownward by a spring B1 as shown in FIG. 2A.

A rotating shaft R2 provided between the support pillars P3 and P4 isattached with actuating levers M2 and M3 with their base ends affixedthereto. A protruding lever 21 comprising a screw and others isprotruding sideward from the distal end of the actuating lever M2. Thisprotruding lever 21 abuts the bottom surface of the actuating lever M1.The G.sup.♯ key-pad is attached to the distal end of the actuating leverM3. These actuating levers M2 and M3 are pressed upward by a spring B2.

The G.sup.♯ key-pad is normally closed and is constituted as shown inFIGS. 5 and 6. Without going into detailed explanations, let us say thatthe force of the spring B2 that is pressing the actuating levers M2 andM3 upward is weaker than the spring force that is creating the normallyclosed condition for the G.sup.♯ key-pad. Therefore, the G.sup.♯ key-padis maintained in a condition of being seated on the seat Oa of the tonehole O. The force of the spring B1 that is pressing the actuating leverM1 downward also contributes to the operation of the G.sup.♯ key-pad.

When the operating lever L1 for the G.sup.♯ key-pad is pressed downwardwith a finger, the actuating lever M1 rotates upward and relieves theprotruding lever 21 from the abutment therewith. Consequently, theG.sup.♯ key-pad tends to be pushed upward resisting the spring forcewhich has been causing it to be closed.

The rotating shaft R3 provided between the supporting pillars P6 and P7is attached with actuating levers M4 and M5 with their base ends affixedthereto. The actuating lever M4 is situated on the side of the F.sup.♯key-pad. A protruding lever 22 comprising a screw and others isprotruding sideward from the distal end of the actuating lever M4 andextends above the G.sup.♯ key-pad. In other words, the lever 22 abutsthe top surface of the G.sup.♯ key-pad when the F.sup.♯ key-pad closesthe tone hole O. The F.sup.♯ key-pad is attached to the distal end ofthe actuating lever M5. This F.sup.♯ key-pad is normally open andconstituted as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, but its details will not beexplained here.

The rotating shaft R4 provided between the supporting pillars P7 and P8is attached with an actuating lever M6 with it's base end affixedthereto. The F keypad is attached to the distal end of the actuatinglever M6.

As a unique feature of this embodiment, a supporting pillar 23 iserected on the cap body of the normally closed G.sup.♯ key-pad as shownin FIG. 1 and FIG. 2B. An arm 24 is connected to this supporting pillar23 in such a way as to be able to rotate around a fulcrum S. One side24a of the arm 24 is bent in an L-shape as shown in FIG. 1. The side 24aof the arm 24 is provided with a protruding lever 25 protruding from thedistal end thereof sideward and is placed on the actuating lever M1. Theother side 24b of the arm 24 is placed on the actuating lever M4.Therefore, by arranging the abutment point T between the actuating leverM4 and the other side 24b of the arm 24 to be located close to therotating shaft R3, the spring force for normally opening the F.sup.♯key-pad that is held in the F.sup.♯ key-pad can be utilized fortransmitting its strong force to the actuating lever M4 when it isdesired to move the actuating lever M4 upward. As a result, the abutmentpoint T can be used as a solid, vertically stable fulcrum for the arm24.

The operating lever L1 for the G.sup.♯ key-pad is further provided withmechanisms for respectively operating the low B, which is a normallyopen key pad, and the low C.sup.♯ key-pad, which is a normally closedkey-pad. Here, the word "low" means the lowest sound obtainable for theparticular sound group; in other words, low C is the lowest among theC-sounds.

This operating mechanism comprises: protruding levers L1a and L1b, whichare plate-like levers protruding horizontally from the operating leverL1 for the G.sup.♯ key-pad; pusher parts 26 and 27 that are attached tothe protruding levers L1a and L1b respectively; vertical levers 28 and29 that are suspending from the bottom surfaces of the pusher parts 26and 27; actuating levers M7 and M8 that transmit the actions of thevertical levers 28 and 29 to the rotating shafts R5 and R6; andactuating levers M9 through M12 that are actuated by the rotations ofthese rotating shafts R5 and R6. The actuating lever M9 is attached withthe low B key-pad. The actuating lever M12 is attached with the lowC.sup.♯ key-pad.

Next, let us explain about the actions of the G.sup.♯ key-pad and theF.sup.♯ key-pad referring to FIG. 3. Incidentally, FIG. 3A shows theconditions of the G.sup.♯ key-pad and the F.sup.♯ keypad when they aregenerating the G sound. FIG. 3B shows the conditions of the G.sup.♯key-pad and the F.sup.♯ key-pad when they are switched from the G soundgenerating status to a G.sup.♯ sound generating status. FIG. 3C showsthe conditions of the G.sup.♯ key-pad and the F.sup.♯ key-pad when theyare switched from the G sound generating status to an F.sup.♯, F, E, orD sound generating status. FIG. 3D shows the conditions of the G.sup.♯key-pad and the F.sup.♯ key-pad when they are switched from the low Csound generating status to the low C.sup.♯, low B, or low B.sup.♭ soundgenerating status. FIG. 3E shows the conditions of the G.sup.♯ key-padand the F.sup.♯ key-pad when they are switched from the low C.sup.♯, lowB, or low B.sup.♭ sound generating status to a G.sup.♯ sound generatingstatus.

G Sound

The condition for generating a G sound is the basic setting conditionfor the operating mechanism of the present embodiment. The condition forgenerating a G sound is a condition wherein the G sound keypad is openand the operating lever L1 is not operated. Therefore, neither theG.sup.♯ key-pad nor the F.sup.♯ key-pad is operated, in other words, thenormally closed G.sup.♯ key-pad is closed and the normally open F.sup.♯key-pad is open as shown in FIG. 3A. In other words, the G.sup.♯ key-padis abutting the seat Oa of the tone hole 0 by means of the force of itsown spring provided for creating the normally closed condition whileresisting the force of the spring B1 provided for the active lever M1.The F.sup.♯ key-pad is being separated from the seat Oa of the tone holeO due to the force of its own spring provided for creating the normallyopen condition. At the same time, the actuating lever M3 coaxiallyattached to the rotating shaft R3 is situated in an up position.

As a result, providing a mechanism that connects the G.sup.♯ key-padwith the F.sup.♯ key-pad does not affect the existing key pads at all.

G Sound•G.sup.♯ Sound

Let us now explain how to generate G.sup.♯ from the original conditionof the operating mechanism.

When the operating lever L1 for G.sup.♯ is pressed down by a finger fromthe condition for generating a G sound, the rotating shaft R1 rotates.As a result, the actuating lever M1 that is attached to the shaftrotates also, moving the protruding lever 25 upward. This upward motionof the protruding lever 25, as shown in FIG. 3B, causes the side 24a ofthe arm 24 to move upward around the fulcrum S.

In the meantime, the other side 24b of the arm 24 is sitting on theactuating lever M4, which is currently at its up position. Therefore,the arm 24 rotates using the abutment point T between the other side 24bof the arm and the actuating lever M4 as a fulcrum. Thus the arm 24removes the G.sup.♯ key-pad from the seat Oa of the tone hole Oaccompanying the supporting pillar 23 to open the tone hole.

In other words, even if the G.sup.♯ key-pad has been attached to theseat Oa of the tone hole O as it has absorbed moisture, etc., and hasbecome sticky, the push down force of the finger applied to theoperating lever L1 for the G.sup.♯ key-pad, in addition to the force ofthe spring B2 and the force of the spring B1 attached to the actuatinglever M1, causes it to be pried open.

As a consequence, the G.sup.♯ key-pad will never become inoperativeduring a play, thus preventing the occurrence of any disruptive soundsor disturbances during a play, and enabling always accurate sounds andsmooth performances.

G Sound•F.sup.♯, F, E, D Sounds

Let us now explain how to generate an F.sup.♯ sound from the G soundgenerating condition.

The condition for generating a G sound is as shown in FIG. 3A, whereinthe G key-pad is open, the G.sup.♯ key-pad is closed, and the F.sup.♯key-pad is open. Although different key-pad operations are required togenerate F.sup.♯, F, E, and D sounds respectively, they can be regardedequal in relation to the operating mechanism of the present embodiment.Hence, let us take the case of generating an F.sup.♯ sound as anexample.

Since the F.sup.♯ key-pad is a normally open key-pad, an F.sup.♯ soundis generated when it is closed. Therefore, from the condition forgenerating a G sound, or from the condition when the G.sup.♯ key-pad isclosed and the F.sup.♯ key-pad is open, the operating lever L2 forF.sup.♯ is pressed down by a finger to cause the rotating shaft R3 torotate. Then the actuating lever M5 attached to the shaft rotatesdownward accompanying the actuating lever M4. As a result, the F.sup.♯key-pad closes the seat Oa of the tone hole O and the actuating lever M4lowers as well as shown in FIG. 3C.

In the meantime, since the operating lever L1 for the G.sup.♯ key-pad isnot pressed down, it is at its up position, and the actuating lever M1is at its down position. Therefore, the protruding lever 25 and theactuating lever M1 are not abutting each other.

Hence, the arm 24 is in a free state, without affecting at all theF.sup.♯ key-pad's function of closing the seat Oa of the tone hole O,thus allowing F.sup.♯ sound to be generated.

Low C Sound•low C.sup.♯, low B, Low B.sup.♭ Sound

Since the operating lever L1 for the G.sup.♯ key-pad is furtherconnected to the operating mechanism that operates the low B and lowC.sup.♯ key-pads, these relations will be explained below.

The condition for generating the low C sound is a setting opposite tothe condition for generating a G sound (condition shown in FIG. 3A). Inother words, it is the condition wherein the operating lever L1 is notyet actuated, the G.sup.♯ key-pad is open, the operating lever L2 ispressed, and the normally open F.sup.♯ key-pad is closed. Althoughdifferent key-pad operations are required to generate low C.sup.♯, lowB, and low B.sup.♭ sounds respectively, they can be regarded equal inrelation to the operating mechanism of the present embodiment. Hence,let us take the case of generating the low C.sup.♯ sound as an example.

In order to generate the low C.sup.♯ sound from the low C soundgenerating condition, the operating lever L1 is pressed. Then thisaction will be transmitted to the protruding lever L1b, pusher part 27,vertical lever 29, rotating shaft R6, and to actuating levers M10, M11,M12, thus opening the low C.sup.♯ key-pad.

Since the operating lever L1 is pressed down, the G.sup.♯ key-pad triesto open as well. However, the F.sup.♯ key-pad is being held down by theoperating lever L2. Therefore, the protruding lever 22 extending fromthe side of the actuating lever M4 and covering the G.sup.♯ key-padprevents the G.sup.♯ key-pad from leaving the tone hole O and keeps itclosed. At this time, both the G.sup.♯ and F.sup.♯ key-pads keep thetone holes O closed as shown in FIG. 3D. Therefore, the low C.sup.♯sound can be generated from the low C sound generating condition bysimply pressing down the operating lever L1 for the G.sup.♯ key-padwhile leaving the F.sup.♯ key-pad closed. In brief, the low C.sup.♯sound can be generated without affecting or causing any burden to otherexisting key-pads.

Low C.sup.♯, low B, low B.sup.♭ sound•G.sup.♯ Sound

Let us now explain how a G.sup.♯ sound is generated from the low C.sup.♯sound generating condition. As explained before, the G.sup.♯ sound is inthe closed condition pressed down from the F.sup.♯ key-pad side when thelow C.sup.♯ sound is being generated. In order to generated a G.sup.♯sound from this condition, the pressure from the actuating lever L2 forthe F.sup.♯ sound has to be relieved to create an open condition for theF.sup.♯ key-pad.

Particularly, press the actuating lever M1 for the G.sup.♯ key-pad torotate the protruding lever 25 upward and to relieve the pressure of theactuating lever M5 for the F.sup.♯ sound at the same time, to open theF.sup.♯ key-pad. This causes the protruding lever 25 to go upward andmove the arm 24a upward around the fulcrum S as shown in FIG. 3E. On theother hand, the F.sup.♯ key-pad becomes normally open due to the releaseof the actuating lever M5 for the F.sup.♯ sound. This causes theactuating lever M5 to be in the up position. Consequently, the otherside 24b of the arm 24 rotates also around the fulcrum S and goes upwardwith the actuating lever M5. The arm 24, accompanying the supportingpillar 23, removes the G.sup.♯ key-pad from the seat Oa of the tone holeO to open the tone hole O.

Thus, a G.sup.♯ sound can be generated by opening the key-pad for theG.sup.♯ sound and opening the F.sup.♯ key-pad as well.

As described above, in the key-pad operating mechanism of the saxophoneof the present embodiment, the normally closed key-pads can be forciblyopened, even if they are stuck to the seat of the tone hole, by pressingthe operating lever of the normally closed key-pads via arms. In otherwords, the normally closed key-pads can be easily relieved due to theleverage principle. As a consequence, the normally closed key-pads willnever become inoperative during a play, thus preventing the occurrenceof any disruptive sounds or disturbances during a play, and enablingalways accurate sounds and smooth performances.

Moreover, in the key-pad operating mechanism of the saxophone of thepresent embodiment, the abutment part between the actuating lever andthe other side of the arm may be placed as close as possible to therotating shaft. In the case, it is possible to support the actuatinglever with a stronger force to actuate the actuating lever.Particularly, it is possible to make the actuating lever to operateupward using the spring force of the normally open key-pad using theabutment point as a vertically stable fulcrum. Thus, a normally closedkey-pad can be easily freed from a condition stuck to the seat.

It is obvious that this invention is not limited to the particularembodiments shown and described above but may be variously changed andmodified without departing from the technical concept of this invention.

Further, the entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No.09-095984 filed on Apr. 14, 1997, including the specification, claims,drawings and summary are incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A key-pad operating mechanism for an instrumentwith a plurality of tone holes, including normally closed and normallyopen key-pads provided on the tone holes, and operating levers thatallow a player to selectively open or close desired tone holes bypressing the key-pads, the mechanism comprising:an actuating lever thatmoves up and down by operating the operating lever for the normallyclosed key-pad; an actuating lever that is provided adjacent to thenormally closed key-pad and that moves up and down by operating saidoperating lever for the normally open key-pads; and an arm having anabutting point that abuts said actuating lever of the normally openkey-pads, said arm including a driven point that moves up and down byoperating said actuating lever for the normally closed key-pad, and aconnecting part that is connected to the normally closed key-pad andpositioned between the abutting point and the driven point, wherein saidarm opens the normally closed key-pad that closes the tone hole usingthe abutting point as a fulcrum when the operating lever for thenormally closed key-pad is pressed.
 2. A key-pad operating mechanismaccording to claim 1 further comprising:a supporting pillar erected onthe normally closed key-pad, wherein said connecting part is attached tosaid supporting pillar so as to pivot freely.
 3. A key-pad operatingmechanism according to claim 1 in which said actuating lever for saidnormally open key-pad has a rotating shaft and the abutting point ofsaid arm is placed close to said rotating shaft.
 4. A key-pad operatingmechanism as claim 1, in which said instrument is a saxophone, and saidtone hole is provided on a main body of the saxophone.
 5. A key-padoperating mechanism according to claim 4, in which said tone hole thatis opened or closed by the normally open key-pad is a F.sup.♯ hole andsaid tone hole that is opened or closed by the normally closed key-padis a G.sup.♯ hole.
 6. A key-pad operating mechanism for an instrumentwith a plurality of tone holes, said instrument including normallyclosed and normally open key-pads provided on said tone holes, andoperating levers that allow a player to selectively open or closedesired tone holes by pressing the key-pads, the mechanism comprising:anactuating lever that moves up and down by operating the operating leverfor the normally closed key-pad; an actuating lever that is providedadjacent to the normally closed key-pad and which moves up and down byoperating said operating lever for the normally open key-pads; and, anarm having a driven point that moves up and down by operating saidactuating lever for the normally closed key-pad, a connecting part thatis connected to said normally closed key-pad so as to pivot freely, andan abutting point that abuts said actuating lever of said normally openkey-pads, wherein said driven point, said connecting part and saidabutting point respectively corresponding to a power point, a firstfulcrum and a second fulcrum, and wherein the distance from the powerpoint to the second fulcrum is larger than the distance from the powerpoint to said first fulcrum.
 7. A key-pad operating mechanism accordingto claim 6, in which said arm opens said normally closed key-pad thatcloses said tone hole using said second fulcrum when said operatinglever for said normally closed key-pad is pressed.
 8. A key-padoperating mechanism according to claim 7, further comprising asupporting pillar, erected on said normally closed key-pad, wherein saidconnecting part is attached to said supporting pillar so as to pivotfreely.